'Tsar of all the Russias' in Voice from the Ranks: to the Crimea

Marjie Bloy, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow,
National University of Singapore

The Tsar in question was Nicholas I who had come to the throne of Russia in
1825 on the death of his brother Alexander I. Constantin Grunwald describes
him thus:

With his height of more than six feet, his head always held high, a slightly
aquiline nose, a firm and well-formed mouth under a light moustache, a square
chin, an imposing domineering set face,m noble rather than tender, monumental
rather than human, he had something of Apollo and Jupiter ... Nicholas was
unquestionably the most handsome man in Europe — Tsar Nicholas I
(New York, 1955), p. 154.

Nicholas was an autocrat and was of the opinion that he alone spoke for Russia.
He was determined to extend Russia's influence in Europe and saw himself as
the God-appointed defender of Orthodox Christianity.
In the early 1850s this brought him in to direct conflict with the Roman Catholic
French. Nicholas also attempted to gain influence over the Porte — the administration
of the Ottoman Empire and court of the Sultan
in Constantinople. This brought Nicholas into conflict with the British who
feared a Russian fleet in the Mediterranean.

It was Nicholas who took Russia into the Crimean War. In 1854 he said that
he would let 'Generals January and February' kill the Allied forces and then
he would provide a three decker to the remains of the English Army to go home
in, in the Spring.

Nicholas I died on 2 March 1855, of a chill that he caught while visiting his
troops in the Crimea.